Mother of the Month is a monthly blog post where I highlight one of my clients and the maternity photography (or family photography) we did together. I love working with so many wonderful women, and I am so grateful to have met so many soulful people who continue to change my life for the better.

Tell me a little bit about yourself, your husband and how you met. Why you decided to have kids. Was it an easy process?

My name is Rachel, I was born and grew up in China. I met my husband, Sam, in 2010 when we were both in college in Hangzhou, China, which is a famous tourist city. Sam went to the US studying for his master's degree in 2012. After 2 years time separated by the Pacific Ocean, I came to the US after my graduation and married him in September 2014. We had a good time living together and after about a year, we thought it was the time to add a baby to our family, normally as married couples do in our culture. It was not an easy process, however, that the first two pregnancies were not successful. We did not give up. We prayed and believed, and thanked God that in 2017, the dream came true.

1. 请分享一些关于你自己，你先生以及你们怎么遇见的信息。为什么你们决定要孩子呢？整个过程容易吗？

我叫Rachel，在中国出生、成长。我和我的先生Sam是在2010年遇见的，当时我们都在杭州读大学。杭州是中国一个著名的旅游城市。2012年，Sam前往美国攻读硕士。分开在太平洋两岸两年后，我在毕业后来到了美国，并在2014年9月和Sam结婚。婚后一年的时间里，我们度过了一段美好的时光，同时我们也觉得是时候为这个家庭添加一个新成员了，正如同中国的已婚夫妇们通常计划的那样。但这个过程并不容易，前两次的怀孕并没有成功。我们没有放弃，我们祷告并且相信孩子一定会来的。感谢上帝，在2017年，我们的梦想就要实现了。

2. What is your secret to a good relationship?

Actually there's nothing called a "secret" as to a good relationship in marriage, but two things always win: love and respect. God brought the two of us together to let us enjoy each other and help each other to achieve our higher goals, not to find fault or try to fix the other person. Husband and wife are different, so it is normal to have different opinions. One important thing is that we need to respect his/her opinion even if it is not the same with yours. Have an open atmosphere at home to discuss the differences with peace and love. Remember that our common ground is to make a decision or choice that is good for the family, and we do not have this discussion to prove somebody is wrong or right.

2.你对保持良好夫妻关系的秘诀是什么？或者说你快乐的秘诀？亦或你们准备如何在这个世界里引导这个小家伙？

实际上保持一个良好的夫妻关系并没有什么所谓的“秘诀”，但有两个东西总是有效的：爱和尊重。上帝让我们两个人在一起是要让我们彼此享受对方、帮助对方获得更大的成就，而不是让我们找对方的过错或试图修理对方。丈夫和妻子是不一样的个体，所以持有不同的意见再正常不过。一件很重要的事情是，我们需要尊重对方的观点，无论这个观点是否和我们自己的一样。在家里要有一个开放的环境，以爱和平和的心态来讨论这些不同。需要记住的是，我们讨论的共同目的是做出对家庭最好的决定和选择，而不是要证明谁对谁错。

3. Tell me about why you decided to have professional family or maternity photographs, and why you trusted me to take these special photos.

We want to record and memorize this special period of time in life, and want to have a professional to get the work done, because we trust professional photographers and believe that they can catch the most beautiful pictures and memories. Also, we want this maternity photography to be special. We chose and trusted you to take those special photos because we like your art style very much, it is unique and beautiful, and you have rich experience in your work and art.

3. 请分享一下为什么你决定找专业的家庭或孕期摄影师？为什么你信任我来拍摄这些特别的照片？

我们想要记录人生中这个特别的时间，同时想要一位专业人士来帮助我们实现这个想法，因为我们信任专业摄影师，相信他们能够捕捉到最美丽的瞬间和记忆。此外，我们想要这次孕期摄影变得特别。我们选择并信任你来拍摄这些照片是因为我们非常喜欢你的摄影风格。很独特，很美丽。你也有摄影和艺术方面丰富的经验。

4. Tell me what the experience was like to work with me, and anything special that you came away with or learned?

It was a great experience working with you. One thing that impressed me is that you always ask for our opinion and what we want in order to make your work to show the uniqueness. You make your work personal and unique to each customer and never treat it as duplicated merchandise.

4. 请告诉我跟我合作的经历感觉如何？你发现或者学到什么特别的东西吗？我做的什么事情让这次经历与众不同？或者跟我合作有什么不一样的地方吗？

跟你合作是一次非常棒的经历。有一个方面让我印象深刻，那就是你总是问我的想法，以及我们想要怎么样，并以此使你的作品更有独特性。你根据每一客户（的不同特点、要求），使你的作品个人化、特别化，你从来不会把它看成是重复制作的商品。